Um.... any one remember the riots in the UK a couple of years ago? The police shot dead a black suspect, kept the family out of the loop and riots kicked off all over the place. (Yes, there was a lot more to it than that)
Well.... public opinion at the time wanted the UK police to act like these Turkish police. In fact, a lot of people wanted the police to be shooting these youths with plastic bullets, not to mention calling out the army to clear it up.
I wonder if the people who held those opinions are now condemning the Turks? I wonder if this is the sort of thing they had in mind?
The public doesn't know about good security work, unfortunately sometimes the police doesn't either. In most security work your objective isn't too win, it's not to loose.
This video[0] is a perfect example. It's was taken during some parade in Northern Ireland. The rioters are trying to break through police lines and, well, generally riot. Observe how the police at the top of the screen at 0:25 looses his temper and tries to go after the person in the blue hoodie. This would be an example of trying to win. He's hitting you, you want to hit him back. The problem is that you are quickly going to loose control over the situation. Worst case scenario individual officers find themselves surrounded, the line is broken, everything turns pear-shaped. This would be loosing. In this case the officer behind him quickly pulls him back in the line and talks him down. In the short term you haven't won, but more importantly you haven't lost.
Also look at the crowds reaction at 0:30 as they become even more aggressive. It's boring to fight someone who doesn't fight back. As a bonus, also look at 1:10 how the rioters form a "human chain" to not get grabbed by the police. Each person is holding the one in front of him to be able to pull him back.
There was a very clear break between the short lived, peaceful (if hostile) and completely legitimate march following the shooting - and then the full-on rioting that followed.
That said, looking at kweks' photos, it seems there could be a similar thing going on in Istanbul: In the daytime, the protest looks great, peaceful and calm, but at night, they are charging the police in a stolen excavator? The police is definitely wrong to fire CS canisters at head level, but if you're charging against the police in a stole excavator, you've lost the high ground.
I don't know how much the excavator was used for overall but there are quite a few times when it ran down water trucks that were actively spraying people. If the protesters were violent towards those in the water truck or were attacking police who weren't violent themselves then they lose the high ground, but destroying property that is used to inflict brutal harm to the people they're meant to protect is justifiable as long as it is done in a way that does not harm life.
Well.... public opinion at the time wanted the UK police to act like these Turkish police. In fact, a lot of people wanted the police to be shooting these youths with plastic bullets, not to mention calling out the army to clear it up.
I wonder if the people who held those opinions are now condemning the Turks? I wonder if this is the sort of thing they had in mind?